Newswise — Susan E. Foster, a leading figure in the field of addiction research and public policy, has been named Executive Director of The American Board of Addiction Medicine (ABAM) Foundation’s National Center for Physician Training in Addiction Medicine (NCPTAM). She joins The ABAM Foundation from CASAColumbia® where she served as Vice President and Director of Policy Research and Analysis since 1996.

The National Center for Physician Training in Addiction Medicine was established in 2013, and is partially supported by a generous $2 million grant from the Conrad N. Hilton Foundation. The Medical Director of the Center is Richard D. Blondell, MD, Professor of Family Medicine at the University at Buffalo School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences. The purpose of the new Center is to integrate the prevention and treatment of addiction into routine medical education and practice in a sustainable way.

“We are fortunate to have Ms. Foster at the helm as we work to achieve our objective of creating systemic change in medical education and training, medical practice, and health care in order to provide evidence-based addiction prevention and treatment to all who need it,” said Patrick G. O’Connor, MD, MPH, FACP, President of ABAM and The ABAM Foundation, and Professor of Medicine and Chief of the Section of Internal Medicine, Yale University School of Medicine. “Her track record in this field is impeccable, and her leadership skills unparalleled.”

NCPTAM is leading a national effort to develop fellowships in addiction medicine based on national standards that are consistent with requirements of the American Board of Medical Specialties (ABMS) and the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME). To date, 23 fellowship programs have been established with the assistance of the Center and The ABAM Foundation. The long-term goal of the Center is to make prevention, screening and intervention for risky substance use and the treatment and management of addiction and co-occurring illnesses available through all points of entry to the health care system - including physicians’ offices, community clinics, school and college health centers, emergency rooms, trauma centers, hospitals and other health care centers. A critical element of this work is to assure prevention and early intervention services for children and adolescents who are at highest risk of developing the disease.

“The ABAM Foundation and its Center are playing a leading role in ensuring that the physician workforce is equipped to address the largest preventable and most costly health problem this nation faces,” said Ms. Foster. “Assuring appropriate training of medical providers is the essential first step to preventing this deadly disease and providing quality care for those in need. I look forward to working with colleagues at the Board and Foundation and in other organizations helping to achieve this goal.”

Prior to joining the ABAM Foundation, Ms. Foster was responsible for conducting CASAColumbia’s policy research and analysis on the impact of risky substance use and addiction on America’s systems and populations and for developing evidence-based alternative policy and health care strategies. At CASAColumbia, she served as media spokesperson on this research in multiple media venues. Before that, she served in a number of senior positions in the public and private sectors, including Founding Partner of Brizius and Foster Public Policy Consulting and of U.S. Data on Demand, Inc.; Deputy Undersecretary for Intergovernmental Affairs, U.S. Department of Health, Education and Welfare (HEW); and Special Assistant to Secretary Joseph A. Califano, Jr., HEW.

For more information on the work of the Foundation, the NCPTAM or ABAM, visit: www.abamfoundation.org and www.abam.net.